Chapter ThirtyGrace
Chapter Thirty
Grace
“ W hen will I get my memories back?” I asked as I sat in the exam room at the Omega Center. Yesterday’s conversation with Spencer about not going home made me want to know, more than ever, how and why I’d ended up here.
“It’s hard to say. It hasn’t even been two weeks. But most people get their memories back within a month or two,” Dr. Davidson told me. “Now, a concussion plus Oxotipoline, depending on the dose, well, that could be longer, but in both cases, we seldom see permanent memory loss.”
“Oh.” I needed those memories. What if I’d broken interdimensional law and the temporal police came to drag me away?
“You’re still recovering, but there are some things you can do to help. Puzzles and logic games are very good for you, also, eat well, hydrate, rest, and perhaps engage in a hobby,” she suggested.
Hobbies. Right. I think I had hobbies. “I play the piano.”
There was a piano on the second floor. I’d play every concerto I could recall if it got my memories back.
“Music is wonderful for the memory. After your appointment next week, we’ll see if you need to continue wearing the monitor. Watch the strenuous activity. I’m glad you found your alpha, but go easy.” She winked.
How? The wrist monitor. Whoops.
She chuckled. “See you next week.”
“Thanks.”
The doctor left, and I took off the exam gown and put my clothes back on, glad to be done.
Wes had dropped off Evan and me, and I’d had a variety of appointments, from talking to Luc from the integration team, to meeting with Mrs. Beekman.
Someone had even given me a tour, telling me about all the activities and programs the Center offered, and showed me how to get a Center card for my phone, then took me to a cupboard where I got to choose goodies like bath products. They’d even had lavender, my favorite.
Still, it didn’t negate the fact that it could be a long time before I got my memories. Before I could feel at ease in this world. Before I could be sure I had done nothing wrong and no one would take me away like Spencer’s dad.
Rounding the corner, I slumped to the floor and cried. While I loved being here with Wes, all week I’d been able to stay wrapped in blankets in the house and avoid the fact that this wasn’t my world . While similar enough, there was so much that was different–like movies and music.
Or that they were actually building micro quantum computers to implant in people’s bodies for medical treatment.
All these things indicated that I didn’t belong here. But, I not only couldn’t get back, I shouldn't .
There wasn’t much left for me in my world. But was there even a place for me in Wes’ family? Evan said there was, but Brennan barely talked to me. It was obvious their routine had been altered because of me.
All this was too much.
While I believed Evan with all my heart, did Wes even want me? Or was it just a fascination? I let the tears fall as all the confusion I’d felt came to the surface.
“There you are.” Evan sat next to me and pulled me to him. “Why are you crying?”
I buried my face in his shoulder but said nothing.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” He wiped my tears away with his thumb.
“It could be months before I get my memories back.” I sniffed.
He held me to him and kissed the top of my head. “We’re here, and it’s okay. Join me? I want you to meet Rose. I think you have a lot in common.”
“She’s also not from this world?” My voice went dry.
“You’re both members of the shitty mom club.”
It didn’t bother me that he said that, since he was right. Honestly, her cutting me off when I decided to get my PhD instead of moving home and teaching was the best thing she ever did for me. I had no regrets about not setting things ‘right’ with her before she died.
“Please tell me you met with a therapist today?” he asked.
“Luc the integration counselor?” I shrugged, not sure if it was the same. “Does Wes even want me here?”
“Peaches, he has spent the last week or so by your side, snuggling you, taking care of you, and learning everything about you, like how to make you squeal.” He nibbled my neck, making me mew.
“Sure, Wes is a good guy, but even with all that’s happening, he wouldn’t be doing everything he has if he didn’t want to.
Maybe I haven’t been clear enough, but I want you here, too.
I understand that you feel out of place, but please, let us love you. ”
I gazed into his dark brown eyes. “I suppose.”
What he was asking was a lot in the grand scheme of things. But I wanted it.
“Good.” He captured my lips with his.
“Hey, no making out in the hallway.” Carly in her Center polo gave us a huge smile as she joined us.
Evan grinned. “You’re just jealous.”
“Kinda.” She bit her lower lip and grinned. “Hey, my guy said he can do what you need, based on the specs you sent.”
I blinked. “What are we doing?”
“Putting a door between my bathroom and your room. I guess the original floor plan called for it, but when our house was built, the then-owners opted out. Carly’s alpha is a contractor. Thanks.” He smiled at Carly, then stood and helped me up. “Let’s go meet Rose. Maybe she’ll make you a bracelet.”
Evan led me through a gymnasium. In one corner, some people played a game that looked like volleyball and badminton had a baby. In another area, a group was learning self-defense.
“We should have Jett teach you some stuff,” Evan said, waving at a couple of people.
“Jett, not Wes?” I asked.
“Boxing can be fun, but I was thinking more like hand-to-hand combat. Unless you’d rather learn to wrestle, that would be Brennan,” he grinned.
“I don’t think Brennan wants to wrestle with me,” I replied. “Wait, didn’t he play rugby with Wes?”
“He wrestled too. Still does for fun,” Evan said.
We entered another room, which had a piano in a corner, along with a bunch of tables, a coffee cart, and shelves of games and art supplies.
“Can I play the piano at home?” I asked. “Doc says it might help me remember.”
“You play?” His eyes lit up.
“I have for most of my life. Learning complicated pieces was a great way to work out frustrations.” Especially sexual ones. The problem with having a dream boyfriend was that we both needed to be asleep to hook up.
He gestured to the piano.
I started Turkish March, letting my fingers take off across a keyboard that was hopefully the same. I remembered playing the piano. They probably had different pieces here, but that could be fun to learn.
The piano felt the same. Sounded the same. Playing felt good. Normal even.
Finishing, I looked over at him. “What do you think?”
“I think you and Katie need to play duets. She likes that fast shit. Brennan plays, too. He likes the stuff that just sounds hard.” He grinned back. “Let’s go find Rose.”
We went over to a small table where a redhead was making a necklace out of tiny beads.
“Rose, this is Grace,” Evan introduced. “Grace needs to learn to make those bracelets.”
“Hi! I do need a birthday present for Wes,” I agreed.
We raided the art supplies and made bracelets, Evan going off to do his thing.
“Thanks for helping choose the clothes and lights for me,” I told her as I found the beads for our initials.
“I’m glad you like them. It’s fun shopping with Ri,” she told me. “I miss my friends.”
“I’m sure you do. Do they text you?” I asked her.
Did I miss mine? I remembered that my colleagues and I would sometimes do things, like go to the bar for trivia night or have movie marathons.
There were girls from undergrad that I kept up with.
I had a good time with some of my classmates when I was getting my PhD. But did I have friends?
“Oh yes. One of my friends, who’s an omega, is going to see if she can come to the school, too, next year. We’re both flyers. Finchley goes all the way through undergrad with amazing acceptance rates to grad programs and even med school!” She looked a bit giddy.
“Oh, I was a flyer for my cheer squad both in high school and college.” I didn’t really like it.
But I was good at it, and it made other people like me–something that was important to my mom.
It kept my mom off my back and gave me a reason to leave the house without argument.
Also, it helped fund my undergrad and gave me an instant set of friends in college.
A few other teenagers joined us, and I ended up teaching everyone how to make friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss.
Her phone vibrated, but instead of getting an excited look, her face fell.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“My sister wants me to come home and get a job,” she told me. “She won’t let up. She thinks waiting to take a mate is stupid, and if I’m going to wait, then I should come home and help.”
“Rose, listen to me carefully– do not set yourself on fire to keep others warm. I know that there are extraneous circumstances, but it isn’t your job. Don’t give up your future,” I explained, adding another row to my bracelet.
“That’s what my stepdad says. To stay and get a good education. But…” her phone went off again, and Rose winced.
“The guilt is hard. But sometimes the best thing to do is focus on yourself. It doesn’t make you selfish,” I assured her.
Rose looked at her phone. “Oh no. She’s here, and she wants to see me.”
“You don’t have to see her,” I replied, as I finished up my bracelet.
“I don’t?” She frowned. The war in her eyes tore at my soul.
I shook my head. “Family doesn't mean necessity. It’s not your job to take care of your siblings, it’s not hers either, and it’s unfair for the both of you.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Rose sighed. “Let me clean up.”
She started to clean up her stuff, and I helped her.
“Change of plans. Wes is taking you on a date tonight,” Evan told me. “We’ll get the stuff for the cake, and his present, and hit the home store tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, okay. A date? Where are we going? What do I wear?” I’d been looking forward to a trip to the home store, but a date sounded fun.
“It’s a surprise,” Evan said. “You’re fine how you are.”
The idea made me warm and tingly inside. “What will you do tonight? I don’t want you to be left out.”
“I’m going to go for a ride on the back of Brennan’s motorcycle.” He winked.
“That sounds fun. He has a motorcycle?” Huh. Brennan didn’t strike me as the type.
Evan nodded. “He does. Jett and I have them, too. Bren looks amazing on his. So do I.”
I looked over at Rose as she put the box of beads on the shelf. “Will she be okay?”
“Eventually. I’ve seen this a million times. The sibling that’s sacrificed themselves gets angry that no one else will. Or the one that’s parentified. Or is the scapegoat. Or was the golden child until someone became an omega. There can be a lot of anger and animosity among siblings,” he said.
“I get that.”
Evan ran his hand through my hair. “Wes will meet you in the front. Have fun. I’m going to get back to Rose.”
“Go take care of Rose–and have fun on your date.” I checked my phone and saw that he’d just texted. Here. With a wave, I went to find Wes.